Shatner to Virgin: cease and desist

One of the celebrities who have reportedly signed on customers of Virgin Galactic is William Shatner. Problem is, Shatner thinks otherwise, according to an interview with the Calgary Herald (via the Ottawa Citizen):

“No, no, that’s not true,” the actor, a month away from 75, says from the TV set of Boston Legal. “Well, they’re saying I did, but I did not. They’re getting some mileage out of it, that’s for sure. I’m asking for a cease and desist.”

Not even the prospect of tying John Glenn as the oldest person in space tempts Shatner: “Yes, but John Glenn had to train for two weeks.” Actually, more like six months; in any case, the training time for a Virgin Galactic flight will likely be considerably less than two weeks.

2 comments to Shatner to Virgin: cease and desist

[…] The Mirror reports that Hilton would join a number of other celebrities planning to fly on SpaceShipTwo, including William Shatner, Kate Moss, and Sigourney Weaver. However, Weaver told an online publication that she has no plans to spend a “staggering $100,000″ on such a flight (staggering, perhaps, since it would be a 50% discount on the current going rate). She said she worried she has already been to space “so many times in my imagination”, and worried that the real thing might not live up to expectations. It true, it wouldn’t the first time that a celebrity denied reports about signing up with Virgin Galactic: earlier this year William Shatner denied reports he was a customer, even asking “Who the heck wants to go out into space?!” […]

[…] It would seem that this issue was definitively settled early this year, when William Shatner made it clear he’s not a Virgin Galactic customer. But since his name still appears as one of several celebrities reportedly flying on SpaceShipTwo, Shatner made it bluntly clear to the British media that he is a bit, well, scared, of flying in space: “I’m interested in man’s march into the unknown but to vomit in space is not my idea of a good time. Neither is a fiery crash with the vomit hovering over me.” (I think in the case of a fiery crash, the vomit won’t be hovering for long, but anyway… Shatner, who was offered a free ticket from Richard Branson, did note that “I do want to go up but I need guarantees I’ll definitely come back.” […]